Eastern Europe

Technological advances in 2024 will continue to reshape consumer behaviour. This annual report explores the top five digital shopper trends that will redefine commerce the most in the year ahead. Some of the trends included in this report’s edition…

The Hungarian travel market has performed positively on the whole in 2023. Inbound, outbound and domestic trip numbers have increased strongly and come closer to their pre-pandemic levels, with diminishing concerns about COVID-19 and the ending of…

Tourism flows have rebounded strongly during the post-COVID-19 recovery of travel and tourism in Bulgaria, with no travel restrictions being in place in 2022 or 2023. Leading scheduled, low cost and charter airlines have also increased their number…

Growth in the number of outbound departures from Hungary in 2023 looks set to be well down on the previous year. This is mainly explained by the ongoing normalisation of travel flows following the strong rebound over 2021-2022 that resulted from the…

The National Statistical Office and the Ministry of Tourism data suggest a significant increase in tourism flows as the post-COVID-19 recovery of travel and tourism in Bulgaria continues. There are no remaining active travel restrictions in place…

Much like Budapest, smaller cities and regional areas in Hungary have witnessed significant increases in lodging supply in recent years, particularly since the easing of the pandemic and the ending of related restrictions. A key driver of growth in…

Lodging suffered significantly during the pandemic with the number of room nights booked and value sales dropping dramatically. Nonetheless, most lodging establishments and hotels managed to endure the crisis although many have been financially…

Hungarians traditionally pay close attention to foreign exchange rates when planning trips abroad, particularly summer holidays, as fluctuations can cause travel expenses to increase significantly in a short period of time. This was the case…

The cost of a typical day in the sun on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – the area that makes up what is now known as the fast-growing Bulgarian Riviera – remains far cheaper than most of its rival European resorts. This makes Bulgaria very attractive…

The low cost carriers category looks set to record faster growth in current value sales than its full service counterpart in Hungary in 2023. This is partly because due to their focus on offering more affordable fares, leading low cost operators such…

Passenger numbers have continued to recover in 2023, albeit failing to achieve pre-pandemic levels. Although there are no longer any COVID-19 related travel restrictions still in place which could impede travel, including airline travel, there are…

The dynamic performances recorded across all categories of travel and tourism in Romania during 2023 represented the continuation of the strong recovery that began in 2021 and developed over the course of 2022. This was mainly result of the…

The resumption of travel is a key factor in 2023, along with the associated evolution in consumer behaviour since the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns made people realise how important it is to achieve a healthy work-life balance, along…

2023 saw robust growth in domestic tourism trips and outbound departures as rising demand continued to be driven by the realisation of pent-up demand following the total removal of COVID-19 restrictions from March 2022. With local consumers taking…

Domestic travel is recovering at a faster rate than inbound tourism in Poland. In 2023, Polish consumers are seen to be eager to book stays in domestic tourist resorts, go on city breaks, and travel to visit family or friends and, at the same time,…

The very favourable performance recorded in lodging in Romania during 2023 can be seen as the consequence of rising occupancy rate, which led directly to dynamic growth in room nights as well as spurring the development and opening of new hotels. The…

Lodging (destination) is recovering in Poland, with both opportunities and challenges seen. In fact, there are a number of challenges faced by those in the lodging industry in Poland. Notably, here we cite the weakened purchasing power of consumers…

The dynamic sales growth that was recorded in bookings in 2023 was mainly the result of the strong interest that many local consumers have in placing early bookings when planning leisure travel. This boom in booking travel and tourism products and…

In order to look at the trends in booking, we look at the overall trends in travel. Polish consumers are re-embracing the opportunity to travel again after the pandemic restrictions were lifted, and we are seeing strong trends in both domestic travel…

Low cost carriers remained the largest category of airlines in Romania in 2023 in terms of both value sales and passengers carried as it recorded stronger growth in passenger numbers than full service carriers, although full service carriers recorded…